[[quoteright:250:[[{{Akagi}} http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/akagi_is_jesus2.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:A mahjong match of ''biblical'' proportions.]]
->''"Boy, there's nothing worse than an inscrutable omen."''
->-- Calvin, ''CalvinAndHobbes''

So you have yourself a MindScrew, a DreamWithinADream, or an episode with lots of {{Foreshadowing}}. You have the plot, you have the characters... but something's missing. What could it be...?

I know! Let's add some random symbolism and a few religious [[ShoutOut shout outs]], make the registration plate a Bible index, place some pentagrams in the background of the chase scene, and have a character die with his arms outstretched so that people will compare him to Jesus. As long as it ''looks'' meaningful, people will love it!

Not all such references are arbitrary; this trope specifically applies only when someone has added random symbolism as an afterthought to add (illusory) depth and meaning to an otherwise-standard story. Comparing your main character to the [[{{Satan}} Devil]] or [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory Jesus]] seems popular.

This technique is particularly popular in {{Anime}}, because the Japanese generally only have a passing familiarity with Christianity, and will often use names or apocrypha without regard for their actual significance. And of course the corollary being that Western productions likewise only have a passing familiarity with Eastern philosophies.

Compare CrystalDragonJesus. The secular equivalent is WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome? Contrast RuleOfSymbolism, which is when the symbolism is worked into the story intentionally and has genuine meaning.

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!!Related Tropes:

* AsTheGoodBookSays
* BloodstainedGlassWindows
* CreepyCoolCrosses
* CrucifiedHeroShot
*HowDoYouLikeThemApples
* NumberOfTheBeast
* OneHundredAndEight
* [[{{ptitlejzxofvdl}} Pietà Plagiarism]]
* SistineSteal

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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* How much of the religious imagery in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is truly relevant and how much was added by this trope is up for debate; however, things like the cross-shaped energy blasts probably qualify. Producer Kazuya Tsurumaki admits that a lot of the material that the staff co-opted from Judeo-Christian esoterica is there ''specifically'' to MindScrew the viewing audience, who, being Japanese, wouldn't be very familiar with it. But even ''NGE'' couldn't resist the temptation to throw in one gratuitous Buddhist reference, in the form of a OneHundredAndEight. European and American audiences are {{Mind Screw}}ed not by its unfamiliarity but by the fact that it appears in totally unexpected contexts.
** There's actually a good collection of Buddhist and even Shinto imagery scattered around NGE -- but it's handled a bit more subtly because the (intended) audience could be expected to pick up on it more easily.
** Don't forget the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephirot_(Kabbalah) Sephirot]] (Yes, it's [[FinalFantasyVII his]] namesake) you see behind EVA01 (the image is also in the opening). Oh, and it's in ''FullMetalAlchemist'''s opening as well.
*** The Sephirot aren't just in the opening. They're on the floor of Gendo Ikari's office and briefly appear during the crucifixion (speaking of this trope) of Unit 01 in ''End of Evangelion.''
** There's much more symbolism in NERV itself:
*** There are 22 layers of armor protecting the Geo-Front. This is taken from the number of paths between the 10 sephiroth in the Tree of Life.
*** Terminal Dogma (and what's housed in it) is very symbolic if you know the meaning of the word Dogma. Dictionary.com defines it as: An authoritative principle, belief, or statement of ideas or opinion, especially one considered to be absolutely true. It is often used in relation to religious beliefs. It only makes sense that [[spoiler:NERV houses the being that they use to initiate Instrumentality there.]]
**** Terminal Dogma is also the part of the brain, which matches Nerv's nervous system naming conventions.
* ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'': Many of the characters and monsters in the ancient Egyptian Memory World are named after figures from Egyptian mythology (Isis, Set, Osiris, Ra) and have absolutely nothing in common with their namesakes or their stories (though it makes great inspiration for FanFic writers and [[{{Shipping}} Shippers]]).
** ''[[YuGiOhGX Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' has three demon monsters and their fusions named for Judeo-Abrahamic angels, and the name of the organization pursuing them are the "Seven Stars" in the original version, a reference to the Book of Revelation.
* For all the [[ContemplateOurNavels philosophical rambling]] and half-symbolism in ''GhostInTheShell: Stand Alone Complex'' they mostly avoid religious imagery. But in the last episode of ''Second Gig'', Batou grabs a cross beam and holds it over his shoulder before using it to free Motoko. And, well... [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NotSymbolicAtAll.jpg judge for yourself if this is supposed to be symbolic]].
** Not to mention the Tachikomas' self sacrifice at that same moment.
** The original film has an interesting moment where the enemy-controlled tank shoots the hell out of an evolutionary-tree stone relief in attempt to ventilate Motoko; the last round blows the 'homo sapiens' clean off the wall.
** This troper is always really irritated by that apple in the last episode. This apples meaning is a complete mystery, but from the way it is shown, it seems to be the most important symbol in the entire show!
***This troper thinks it may be a reverse Forbidden Fruit. Since the original apple allowed mankind to enter the world of duality (good and evil) this second apple allows [[spoiler: Kuze]] to re-enter the plain of transcendant oneness i.e. the Net. [[spoiler: Motoko does not bite the apple and remains in the physical world.]] Alternately it could be the fruit of the tree of life, granting immortality. Either way apples are usually related to Genesis and this clearly has something to do with the decision to upload oneself to the net.
* ''JoJosBizarreAdventure'' Part 3 introduced Stands, spiritual entities named after tarot cards. Note the "named after", not "based on"; few of them have anything in common with their namesakes, the author's [[{{Handwave}} handwaves]] nonwithstanding. For example, Tower of Gray is a superfast fly, so named because it brings calamity; Death 13 is a dream-controlling Stand named only because it ''looks'' like TheGrimReaper (while the actual card, ironically, does ''not''), The Emperor is a handgun, and The Empress is a sentient wart which [[BodyHorror grows on its victim]]. About the only Stand that was really accurate was The Sun, a miniature sun. But, there weren't enough Tarot cards to have all the requisite [[MonsterOfTheWeek enemy Stand users]], so the author started naming them after similarly unrelated Egyptian gods. See Horus, an ice Stand named after the sun god. When the author ran out of ''those'' he decided to just use name them after bands, and has continued to do so throughout parts 4, 5, 6, and 7, though even those can be sort of wonky at times, such as Super Fly, the tower Stand.
** The last one is [[SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness obviously]] because [[ContinuityNod Tower of Gray was the super-fly Stand]].
* ''DeathNote'' contains several religious allusions. Some notable examples are [[SistineSteal Michaelangelo's ''Creation of Adam'' (Ryuk and Light)]] and [[PietaPlagiarism ''Pietà'' (Ray Penbar and Naomi Misora)]] in the first opening credits, as well as the washing of Light's feet by L. Not to mention the symbolism of the apples Ryuk is always chomping on. This was actually the result of a mistake on the part of the manga artist, as it was a suggestion from the author who just thought it'd look cool.
** Not to mention the ''huge'' number of objects in the series that just "happen" to look like crosses:
*** While L washes Light's feet, it cuts to a shot of a catwalk arranged like a cross.
*** In the final scenes of Episode 37, an oil refinery tower looks suspiciously like a cross.
*** The "Wammy House" is just ''littered'' with crosses.
** L is the world's three greatest detectives. Three entities in one person -- where have we heard that before?
* Most of ''{{Hellsing}}'''s religious symbolism was put there simply because Kouhta Hirano was aiming to make a manga that "[[RuleOfCool looked cool]]".
* In ''{{Haruhi-chan}}'', Haruhi (with Kyon's aid) ties Mikuru to a cross and decorates her with balloons. This is an obvious reference to Haruhi's nature as [[EldritchAbomination God]], and thus the Cruxifcation of Mikuru shows Her love for the world in that she would sacrifice her favourite [[TheWoobie chew]]-[[RapeAsComedy toy]] for... no, I am just making it up here. It certainly means ''something,'' though.
** As far a Kyon and Haruhi knew Mikuru was dead before she was tied to the cross, so it doesn't involve her being a sacrifice of any sort.
* Mercuremon from ''DigimonFrontier'' stages a huge ChurchShootout against Takuya, complete with OminousPipeOrgan (physical and musical) and a CrucifiedHeroShot. The grand finale even involves ''stuffing him in a coffin''. They are fighting inside Sefirotmon, which is a living cabbalistic figure.
* In the DVD extras for ''EurekaSeven'', voice actor Crispin Freeman discusses how the names of the main HumongousMecha and its associated AppliedPhlebotinum are derived from Buddhist mythology, as well as the series' references to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Bough The Golden Bough]].
* ''TheBigO'' had this in spades.
* ''DGrayMan''. The villains are descendants of Noah (yes, that Noah), the [[BigBad Millennium Earl]] has commandeered Noah's Ark, the Black Order works for the Vatican, General Yeeger is crucified by the Noah, most [[EmpathicWeapon Innocences]] have CreepyCoolCrosses on them, all Akuma have pentagrams on their faces (as does the hero), the Noah have lines of scar-like crosses across their foreheads...
* ''FafnerInTheAzureDeadAggressor'' outdoes its rivals with twice the pointless mythology: meaningless German myth for the heroes (see: Fafner), and vague Egyptian-ness for the villains.
* ''{{Trigun}}'' goes for the [[SubvertedTrope subversion]]; Nicholas D. Wolfwood carries around a cross that's actually a minigun, rocket launcher, and holster for several handguns. The grip is shaped like a skull. However, his religious beliefs turn out to be very important to the story.
* The third season of ''SailorMoon'' (''Sailor Moon S'') features a lot of this trope. "The Messiah" has to use the [[MacGuffin Holy Grail]] to save the world from evil, but there's nothing particularly religion-related about this evil force -- it's pretty similar to the {{Big Bad}}s of the other seasons that don't have religious imagery. The episode where the Holy Grail makes its first appearance takes place largely in a cathedral.
** The Holy Grail appears when the three Talismans are brought together. Interestingly, these talismans are a sword, a mirror, and a garnet, which are three sacred objects in the traditional Japanese Shinto religion.
* In the DownerEnding of episode five of ''{{Mnemosyne}}'', BigBad Apos rapes [[spoiler: Rin's sidekick Mimi]] while she is chained and nailed to a stone lamp post as OminousLatinChanting and OminousPipeOrgan plays in the background. This is only one in at least three incidents of NightmareFuel in the last five minutes before the end credits roll.
* In the manga ''SamuraiDeeperKyo'', Mibu Kyoshiro calls himself the son of God and goes around healing [[strike:leper]] wounded children. In a spectacular mix-up of biblical stories, he also [[spoiler:kills his own brother]], which leads to his leaving the [[strike:Garden of Eden]] Mibu lands.
* ''{{Naruto}}'''s BigBad Pain manipulates six bodies named after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_realms Buddhism's Six Paths of Rebirth]]: Animal Realm [[spoiler:summons giant animals]], Demon Realm [[spoiler:is a friggin cyborg armed to the teeth with SchizoTech hidden in his body]], Ghost Realm absorbs chakra(the power source for 90% of the attacks in the series), God Realm had all kinds of weird shit with gravity and junk, Hell Realm could revive the other bodies if they were too damaged, and Human Realm [[spoiler:steals your soul/chakra]].
** It eventually turns out that the statue Akatsuki uses is [[spoiler:something Nagato [[SummonMagic summoned]] to kill Hanzo and Danzo's men in revenge]] which is called "Gedo Mazo". "Gedo" means "outer path", referencing the term in Buddhism for a false path to enlightenment (as opposed to the inner path, which is the correct one).
*** On top of that, Konan reveals that [[spoiler:Nagato himself was the Gedo Pain, and could revive the recently deceased]].
** Don't forget that the Uchiha clan is convoluted in Shinto mythology, with several Sharingan techniques named after Shinto gods.
* [[spoiler:When Lelouch's body falls down from the throne]] in the very end of ''CodeGeass'', his blood [[CrucifiedHeroShot forms a large cross]] with the red line on the Britannian flag spread out in front of it. Interpret it however you wish.
* ''[[RevolutionaryGirlUtena Utena]]'' lives off weird symbolism and the fandom goes crazy, what with the extreme wackiness that is Ikuhara. Miki's stopwatch holding the secrets to the universe is not believed, Ikuni-sama.
** Not to mention all the scenes in [[spoiler:Akio's car]].
* In ''ZoneOfTheEnders Dolores, I'', the story of [[spoiler:Radium Lavans]] is highly similar with the story of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sekhmet Sekhmet, Goddes of War and Destruction]] [[spoiler:who get turned into Goddess of Love and Childbirth, Hathor.]] Guess the name of Radium's frame.
* In ''GaoGaiGar'', the leader of Green Planet was named Cain, while the leader of Red Planet was Abel. Interestingly enough, Abel was apparently ''female''.
* The demise of Colin Mcleod's [[{{DeadLittleSister}} dead love interest]] Moya in the OVA ''{{Highlander: Path of Vengeance}}'', put up on a cross and [[{{Nightmare Fuel}} forced to see her people getting wiped out]] by the [[{{Historical Villain Upgrade}} Romans]]. Partly justified trope, due to that part of the movie set in Roman times, but still...
* ''Gundam'' is known for weird names in the UC era, but ''{{Gundam 00}}'' takes symbolism to the far end. The Innovators is an example... Ribons Devine Almark Hilling Care Regene Revive Tieria Erde, Bring Anew Stability which when you look at it in one way: Reborn Divine Angel's Healing Care Regenerates and Revives the Green Earth, Bringing Anew Stability.
** Not to mention some of the names of the mecha themselves: [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Seraphim, Throne, Cherubim, Virtue]], etc.
* Crona from SoulEater... his/her name, when spoken, is said as "Kuro na" which translates to "dark one". [[spoiler:What with the black blood, this is fitting.]]
* In addition to more explainable symbolism (a stray dog as the main character's self, paired bullet casings for the two killers, puppet strings, masks), the first couple episodes of "Phantom~RequiemforthePhantom" has random crosses or shadows in the shapes of crosses cropping up around the two young assassins, Ein and Zwei.
* ''ChronoCrusade'' teeters back and forth on the "significant/insignificant" line. The series ''is'' about [[NaughtyNuns a nun]] that [[ChurchMilitant hunts demons]], so a lot of the religious symbolism is justified. But some moments push it, ''particularly'' in the anime. For example, after Chrono is badly injured in a battle and caught up in an explosion, Father Remington finds him buried in rubble marked by two steel beams welded together in the shape of a cross.
* ''YamiNoMatsuei''. Period. It's practically an advertisment for this trope.
* The main characters of ''HaibaneRenmei'' are humans with grey wings and golden halos. WordOfGod states that this is not supposed to be symbolic, but was instead chosen because [[RuleOfCool it looked nice]]. It's hard to agree with that though, since the entire story seems to be [[spoiler:a metaphor for Purgatory]].
* The main trio of leads in ''{{NEEDLESS}}'' are named Adam, Eve and [[strike:Yamada]] Cruz ("Cross"). These elements seem to be almost purely decorative, considering the sheer wacky and over-the-top nature of the series.
* ''BloodyMonday'' has this in spades, which isn't unusual considering the antagonists are an evil {{cult}} bent on killing millions of people to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans rebuild Japan.]] Off the top of my head, when the cult's imprisoned long-haired leader Simon is busted out he somehow manages to change into Jesus-like robes inside an IncrediblySpaciousSewer. He dubs his most trusted operatives Michael, Judas (who does what you'd expect him to do), CainAndAbel (even though that applies better to another pair of siblings) [[spoiler: Eventually Simon is killed by a faithless operative (not Judas); the child of Simon who takes his place because they planned all this is also killed (by Judas, but because he felt the new leader was faithless, not to mention completely psychotic)]]. On top of all that [[spoiler: the cultists use the Babylonian calender for no reason other then RuleOfCool.]]
* This tends to be all over the place in the ''RikiOh'' manga (''TheStoryOfRicky'' is basically regarding the pre-symbolism part).
* All of the homonuculi in ''FullMetalAlchemist'' are named after the seven deadly sins.
** It doesn't end there: The manga version's Greed is more or less a walking example of this. Like every homonculi he was born from a single parent, (Father) he was later [[spoiler: hunted down and ended up [[CrucifiedHeroShot crucified]] on Father's orders. Father then killed him on the cross and absorbed his Philosopher's Stone back into his body. Then later on he is returned to life by Father.]] Sound similar to anything?
* [[{{ptitlesirpugug}} Arceus]] sacrificed himself to save humanity.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''Huntress: Year One'' #4, the Huntress essentially crucifies Stephen Mandragora, but even though Huntress is all about the Catholic imagery, she only does it to restrain him, and presumably because impaling someone through the palmar radial nerve is one of the most excruciatingly painful injuries one can inflict on someone. Lampshaded when Mandragora points out to her, with his dying breath "You honor me, with...with the stigmata...I knew...I'd be a saint someday."
* The trope is parodied in ''{{Preacher}}'' when someone pointed out that Jesse Custer's name has "J.C." for initials and Jesse says it's a ridiculous idea.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Fic]]
* From the ''FanFic/DevaSeries'', we have [[AncientConspiracy the Circles]] calling Device-using students "Fallen Angels" and the anti-Device spell "Judgment of the Fallen". [[SarcasmMode That totally does not mean anything]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* ''TheMatrix'' trilogy has hundreds of Bible references, everything from the registration codes of the hovercraft to the dialogue between Smith and Neo. The films' creators were so worried that people might ''not'' see Neo as Messiah that they added these arbitrarily just to avoid confusion. (A few of the subtler ones actually meant something, but they got lost in the general noise.)
** Let's not forget the cross-shaped explosions and other eratta in ''Revolutions''.
** ''TheMatrix'' draws a lot from Ancient Greek mythology and philosophy in the first movie, most notably Plato's Cave.
*** I actually went to a philosophy lecture that drew on the Matrix. It was awful.
** While the [[http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/new_phil_fr_intro.html official site]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influences_and_interpretations_of_The_Matrix TOW]] have essays insisting on how deep and meaningful The Matrix is, critics say it has the exact opposite level of deepness. Most philosophy teachers tell students not to write papers on The Matrix because it makes them ill.
** {{Your Mileage May Vary}}.
* ''{{Superman}} Returns'' is rife with Bible {{Shout Out}}s, but the most blatant one is the scene when one of Lex Luthor's henchmen holds Superman up, with his arms outstretched, as Luthor stabs him in the side with a shard of Kryptonite. [[JustifyingEdit To be fair]], Superman has been compared and made similar to Jesus for years in the comics -- somewhat of an irony, considering that his creators were both Jewish. He's also Moses, what with the "sent away from home in a small vessel to save his life and taken in by a foreign family" and all.
-->''Live as one of them, Kal-El, to discover where your strength and your power are needed. Always hold in your heart the {{Pride}} of your special heritage. They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you... my only son. ''
* Jules Winnfield's recitation of "Ezekiel 25:17" in ''PulpFiction'', which couldn't be any more off to anyone who's read the actual excerpt. Quite frankly, Winnfield himself openly admits that he never actually gave the verse much thought, he's just always thought of it simply as some [[strike:cool]] cold-blooded shit to say to a mother fucker before [[strike: executing his targets]] popping a cap in their ass.
** This is more [[strike:outright theft]] an "homage" to ''The Bodyguard'' starring Sonny Chiba. It still counts, since old movies might as well be the bible to Tarantino.
** Considering the fact that the actual verse is about taking vengeance and dealing out punishment, I think it's more a case that Tarantino didn't bother looking it up. He probably would have used it if he had.
* ''The Doom Generation'' was so full of this it was pretty much tripping over itself. The main characters' surnames are Redd, White and Blue. The female lead smokes Death brand cigarettes, and has a skull-shaped lighter. The penultimate scene involves "The Star-Spangled Banner" playing behind a scene probably better not described. The whole thing is pretty much ''{{Clueless}}'' [[XMeetsY meets]] ''[[NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]]''.
* ''IKnowWhoKilledMe'', which with its strange "symbols" (persistent use of the colors blue and red, an animated heart tattoo, an owl on a tree branch) made the already ridiculous premise even more insane and inane.
* The final shootout of JohnWoo's ''TheKiller'' has this in spades. [[BloodstainedGlassWindows The shootout itself takes place in a church]], the Killer's last place of peace and refuge, with [[DisturbedDoves doves flying everywhere]] at key points in the battle. At one point, the Killer gets shot, and his arms are outstretched in a CrucifiedHeroShot. And just to drive home the point that the church is no longer a sanctuary for him and his blinded love interest, one of the bad guys blows up the church's centerpiece, a statue of Mary, at which point the Handel's Messiah Overture starts playing.
* ''Magnolia'' is filled with [[ArcWords cryptic references]] to the numbers 8 and 2, and eventually brings on a plague of frogs straight out of Exodus 8:2. Not so cryptic are the people in the audience at the gameshow holding up signs reading: "Exodus 8:2".
* ''[[TwentyEightDaysLater 28 Days Later]]'': Are all the statues of Laocoon in the manor house supposed to mean something? How about the Infected priest? How about the running horses? How about the "hell"/"hello" sign at the very end? Well, how about it?
* In KennethBranagh's ''{{Hamlet}}'', the eponymous {{tragic hero}}'s body is hoisted awkwardly so that the arms splay and the head flops back giving a brief cruciform. Which would make sense if there were ''any'' other sacrificial/messianic imagery in the rest of the film.
* ''CharliesAngels: Full Throttle'' has Demi Moore falling down a trap door with a leaking gas pipe, which her gunshots ignite. It's not just symbolic, it's ''[[{{WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome}} awesome]]''.
*''ParadiseNow'' has a chilling, ironic {{ShoutOut}} to Da Vinci's ''Last Supper''. When Khaled and Said eat a supposedly last time with the preparers of their suicide bombings, for some reason they all cluster on the far side of the long table, facing the camera.
* ''BladeRunner'' has the [[ArtificialHuman Replicant]] Roy Batty attempting to kill Deckard before his body dies. His arm begins to stiffen and numb, and so he drives a nail through the palm. He and Deckard fight on the roof -- Deckard is soon driven off the edge and dangles for his life, weakening. Roy grabs him and pulls him up onto the roof just as Deckard's hands slip, the nail through his hand in full view, and sits there, cradling a white pigeon in his hands, before finally dying. At least he had the decency not to splay his hands out in a crucifix pose.
* The tagline from ''InterviewWithTheVampire'' is "''Drink from me and live forever.''" Of course, this is completely appropriate, considering that the (modern) vampire mythology is now seen as darkly mirroring Christ's--where Jesus gave his blood so that others may live forever in paradise, the vampire steals other's blood so that he may live forever, and so on.
** The same thing was used to [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel dreadful effect]] in Stephen King's ''Salem's Lot.'' Aside from the symbolic name of the town, the vampire Barlow [[spoiler: forces the priest to drink his blood]], explicitly invoking communion as he does. It has the effects you would expect.
* When you see the heavenly father and son scene in ''TheLionKing'', do you think of Christianity first, ''Hamlet'', or ''StarWars''?
* ''StarWars'' itself, aside from some actual symbolism, has a few uses of random Asian words and ideas to make it sound exotic and interesting (the word Jedi for instance, the Force and Chi etc).
** Don't forgot that Shmi Skywalker became pregnant by the Force (which was actually done by a real person, Sith Lord Darth Plagueis, but this is obviously not in the movies) and her child is the ChosenOne. and then in the next episode she [[spoiler: dies by crucifixion]].
* In the ''{{Terminator}}'' series, '''J'''ohn '''C'''onnor has those initials for a reason.
* In ''Gran Torino,'' Clint Eastwood [[spoiler: dies after being shot by the gangsters and lies in the classic Jesus pose, sacrificing himself for his new friends]].
* You have in ''{{Metropolis}}'' machines named after Biblical monsters, a CrucifiedHeroShot with a clock, the SevenDeadlySins dancing around, a tower called the New Babel Tower and the MarySue called Maria... This almost reaches the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' scale of meaningless symbols. Not to mention the main character is repeatedly said to be the "mediator" who heals the bond between his all-powerful father and the masses toiling below the city. Subtle, Fritz.
** There is also the bit where one of the furnaces becomes an ancient temple for about 5 minutes and the workers are pulled into the 'mouth' of the 'temple' (which is now the 'face' of DAGON!) as human sacrifices.
** This reaches epic proportions in the novelization by his wife, Thea von Harbou, which uses single phrases repeated word-for-word to solidify Maria as the Virgin Mary, Freder as Jesus, Rotwang as Satan, etc. You know, [[ViewersAreMorons just in case we didn't get it already.]] And let's not forget the random misquoted Bible passages and the fact that Freder's dead mother is named after the Norse goddess of the underworld...
** During the Legend of Babel sequence, Frieder is illuminated by a spotlight from behind him at one point. Assuming you've got a decent print of the movie, the light through his hair forms a halo.
* In ''MissionImposible 2'', big explosion, bad guy's eyes shown full of fire, white doves fly through the air, as Tom Cruise [[OutOfTheInferno emerges from the flames]]. I am not making this up.
* Good hell, this has been around for so long, and DavidLynch is not even mentioned? His movies are [[UpToEleven so rife with symbolism]], he probably has a swimming pool filled with it.
* One draft of ''TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' would have Bond hide out in a church during a shootout, and hide behind the crucifix, arms spread and all. It was removed well before filming starting, due to the UnfortunateImplications Bond shooting people in a church would have.
* ''Westworld'' is a secular relative of this, with symbols both representing its LostAesop (the rebellion of the Roman slave-bots, for instance) and seemingly being thrown in for kicks (the Dark Knight on the throne.)
* There is the scene in ''[[HarryPotter The Half-Blood Prince]]'' where Ginny kneels down in front of Harry and [[spoiler: ties his shoes]].
** Shouldn't that be in DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything?
* Luke of ''CoolHandLuke'' is frequently paralleled with Jesus.
* Definitely some examples in the movie [[Film/{{Watchmen}} Watchmen]]. There are of course the direct references to God, such as "God exists, and he is American" and John reminiscing how hard it was for Janie, who said he's [[AGodAmI "like a god now"]] and John saying that he doesn't think there is a God, and if there is, it's not him. But there are other (slightly) more subtle references, such as the scene from the opening Montage where Sally Jupiter is at a retirement party which is a dead ringer for ''The Last Supper'', the cross-like position that Dr. Manhattan takes not only when he is reborn in the cafeteria but when he's revealed to the world, and the cross-like position Jon Osterman takes as he's being disintegrated.
* For a movie that's not even out yet, the trailer alone for ''[[TwentyTwelve 2012]]'' is [[BeyondTheImpossible saturated to critical mass]] with this.
* ''Slightly'' less religious example: ''Charlie Wilson's War'' is about the true story of how a seemingly RichIdiotWithNoDayJob congressman was able to increse the defense budget (then ''$4 million'' because the defense department didn't want to get involved in another Vietnam) over a hundred fold and smuggle weapons into Afghanistan with the help of [[BeyondTheImpossible Israel and Pakistan]] (and you think [[{{Watchmen}} stopping the invasion via unnatural disaster sounds nuts]]). At the end of the film Charlie and his CIA liason are enjoying the sight of the Russians retreating from Afghanistan when the CIA guy tells him that religious zealots are starting to show up and the Afgans have all those nifty weapons; just then there's '''the gratuitous sound effect of a plane roaring above the building, which happens to face the Pentagon''' and the scene cuts to Charlie being denied a mere $10 million to build "one fucking school" in Afghanistan because nationbuilding there is a very low priority compared to forming relations with Russia. If I recall correctly, the real Charlie Wilson hated the film's insinuation that they had basically armed the Taliban.
** There's also a scene where a better-placed congressman goes to the Afghanistan refugee camp and tells them that help is on the way, to cheers of "Allah akbar!" set to worryingly-pitched music.
* In ''{{Equilibrium}}'', the enforcers of Libria are the Tetragrammaton clerics. The Tetragrammaton is a Greek term for the four-letter name of God. Utterly meaningless in the context of the film, but it sounds cool, right?
* All of Lars Von Trier's ''{{Antichrist}}'': The protagonist couple, known only as [[NoNameGiven He and She]], retreat to their cabin in the woods called "Eden" where they torture each other (He [[MindRape psychologically]], She [[NauseaFuel physically, with garden tools]]) following the untimely death of their child.
* Pretty much most of ''{{Tron}}'': Flynn is Jesus. Tron is Ben Hur. Sark is Pontius Pilate. The MCP is either Satan or Julius Caesar.
** So does that mean the [[NeverTrustATrailer "sample trailer"]] where Flynn is being all [[{{Film/IronMan}} Obadiah Stane-ish]] implies that he's actually the AntiChrist?
* Not sure if this counts, but the trailers for ''[[Film/{{Avatar}} Avatar]]'' showcasing the film's amazing (fake) flora and fauna and NobleSavage vs. HumansAreBastards plot features the same music as the trailers for ''PlanetEarth''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* The ''WheelOfTime'' takes this [[UpToEleven to 11]]. Entire characters are based off of mythological characters, and religious characters.
** Rand Al'Thor (Jesus) battles Ishamael (the Anti-Christ), and Shai'tan ([[{{Satan}} guess]]).
*** Not to mention the Crown of Swords (thorns), the wound in his side, and the herons branded onto his palms.
*** Also, the wound in his side and his [[spoiler: recent near-blindness]] are references to the Fisher King.
*** He's also King Arthur.
*** [[MeaningfulName King Artur Hawkwing]] would like a word. Especially after what the witches of Tar Valon did to him.
** Mat Cauthon is based off of Odin right down to getting hanged for knowledge.
** Perrin Aybara is based off of Thor, and the Baltic god Perkons.
** Gareth Bryne, and Gawyn Trakand are heavily based off of their KingArthur counterparts.
** The history of Tar Valon, and the Amyrlin Seat is based off of Catholic Church and Pope, right down to them splitting apart and electing different Amrylin (popes).
** The Forsaken all have heavy Nazi influences. Consider Semirhage as Dr. Josef Mengele.
** The Asha'man, who are ostensibly ''good guys'', are based directly on the Nazi SS, right down to the uniforms and titles ("Storm Leader").
*** Most of this is just the nature of the books -- a lot of the characters are supposed to represent something/someone in our 'age', and the repetitiveness of the Wheel of Time. This sort of "legend fades into myth" recycling is a large theme of the series. There are theories that the stories Thom mentions in ''The Eye of the World'' are parallels of people/things from our world.
**** Some examples: "Materese the Healer", "Lenn who flew to the Moon on an eagle of fire", and the giants "Mosk and Merk who strode the world and fought with spears of fire".
*****Those are probably distorted legends about mother Teresa, john Glenn, and the cold war respectively.
** You know what, just [[http://www.darkfriends.net/wheel/3_sources/index.html read this]] for all the similarities Arthurian, Judeo-Christian, Asian, Norse, Greek, too many other legends to count.
* Mark Z. Danielewski's ''HouseOfLeaves'' is chock-full of religious and mythological symbolism, some of it seemingly irrelevant. The most obvious allusions are to the Greek myth of [[strike:[[color:red:the Labyrinth and the Minotaur]]]] because of the nature of the [[color:blue:house]], but other mythologies and religions have their place. For instance, Will Navidson's injuries mirror similar injuries sustained by figures in Norse mythology: Odin lost an eye, Tyr lost a hand, and Heimdall lost his hearing, which are similar to [[spoiler:the one blind eye, the frostbitten (and rendered useless) hand, and the lost ear]] he ends up with. The [[color:blue:house]] is located on Ash Tree Lane, and the [[TheWorldTree world-tree Yggdrasil]] is said to have been a giant ash tree. Danielewski doesn't stop at Greek and Norse mythology, but to list them all here would take up too much space.
* Parodied in Vladimir Nabokov's ''Pale Fire''. This is actually [[UnreliableNarrator Charles Kinbote]]'s catch phrase when he's doing the [[OnceMoreWithEndnotes footnotes]] to John Shade's poem "Pale Fire". He keeps relating very minor lines of the poem with some epic romance about a homosexual king fleeing a country in the grips of socialist revolution. Obviously John Shade was so subtle a poet that any mention or imagery of the color gray in "Pale Fire" alluded to the name of the assassin hired by an [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Omniscient Council of Vagueness]] to track the forementioned king down.
* Done deliberately in ''[[EndersGame Ender's Game]]'' with the mind game imagery. While much of it is drawn from various mythologies, and much of it makes sense in itself, taken as a whole it's incoherent. WordOfGod [[http://www.hatrack.com/research/questions/q0022.shtml explains:]]
--->Second, I did not want to create a "plotted" mind game ... When I caught myself having a plan, I subverted it.
* The apple on the cover of ''{{Twilight}}'', according to the author, represents the apple from the Garden of Eden, because, like Bella and Edward's love, it was forbidden.
** It also probably wasn't actually an apple, though that mistake's a ''really'' common one.
* There is the possibility that '''J'''oseph '''C'''urwen, the evil necromancer who rises from the dead in [[HPLovecraft H.P. Lovecraft's]] ''The Case of Charles Dexter Ward'' has those initials on purpose. Considering Lovecraft's antipathy towards religion, he might have made a bit of an inside joke.
* HarryPotter! Come on, he [[spoiler: is killed at the hands of a serpent motif villain and comes back to life]]. And he has a [[strike:crown of thorns]] wand made of holly. And there's the whole theme of sacrificial blood equaling sacred protection [[spoiler:which Harry duplicates in the end]]. Gee, who could he represent?
** ... Wow, that's stretching it a bit. How does a wand represent a crown? I think you're reading into this a bit too much ...
*** Holly is a sacred wood. It is supposedly used to ward off evil. [[spoiler:Let's not forget the phoenix feather core, for rebirth.]]
* ''TheChosen'': It is possible that Danny Saunders represents the Jewish people. He is a dutiful son trying to convince himself that his inscrutable father loves him, he and his father never talk except when studying Talmud. Oh yes, and his father led the congregation's immigration to America thus delivering them up out of the land of Russia.
*''ChildrenOfMen'' is full of this. The protagonist, named Theo for starters, is on a mission to [[spoiler: protect a woman pregnant with the child that is humanity's last hope, of which he is not the father. The character delivering the baby even goes as far as to exclaim "Jesus Christ" upon its arrival.]] Even the film's name is a reference to Psalm 90.
*''TheOutsiders'' has one huge example in that [[spoiler: Johnny dies while saving children from a burning building. Not symbolic? His initials are J.C.]].
**Not only that, but the building was an ''abandoned church''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In the seventh episode of the sixth season of ''{{MST3K}}'', the movie, ''Bloodlust'', is mostly a ''TheMostDangerousGame'' ripoff. However, at the end, after the bad guy is [[HoistByHisOwnPetard killed by the lackey he betrayed]], said lackey pushes his hands through a pair of metal spikes, giving an obvious crucifixion image.
--> '''Tom Servo:''' So why ''this'' symbolism? Did Christ hunt people on deserted islands?
* In the ''{{Ultraman}}'' franchise, crosses and other Christian imagery are used in attacks and story plots, however, it should be noted that the creator of the franchise, Eiji Tsuburaya is actually Christian.
* ''{{Lost}}'' tends to throw in Christian imagery, randomly name its characters after various philosophers, have mysteriously appearing hieroglyphics, etc.
** Some of it vaguely makes sense, e.g. Rousseau lives apart from humanity in nature. Except for that she's extremely paranoid and [[RousseauWasRight distrusts everyone around her]].
* ''{{The 4400}}'' featured Jordan Collier -- although, aside from those initials and the long hair and beard, it's not very obvious at first. But then he [[spoiler: dies and comes back to life]], delivers prophecies and promises of salvation to humanity, and builds a heavily ostracized religion around himself. Really, [[{{Anvilicious}} the anvil couldn't fall any harder]].
* Two entirely different ProfessionalWrestling promotions have made allusions to a wrestler being Jesus in this manner. [[{{WWE}} WWF]], at one point, had Steve Austin attacked by The Undertaker and his almost-Satanic-but-not-quite Ministry, and strapped to a giant version of the Undertaker's personal logo (which looks like a capital T with an X at the bottom point). Of course, as with so many of the WWF's Attitude Era storylines, {{ECW}} did it first, and was even more blatant, having Raven and his Brood attack the Sandman and strap him to a wooden cross, then place a crown of barbed wire on his head. Thankfully, we were meant to interpret this more as an indictment of the occult-like Ministry and Brood than any statement on the foul-mouthed, violent Austin or Sandman.
** A few years before these, there was the 1994 Royal Rumble, where The Undertaker, who was a hero at that time, was ambushed by virtually all of the promotion's villains and put in a casket. Then, the inside of the casket appeared on the video wall, with 'Taker giving a vow to return. Then, his image on the screen turned inverse, with lots of white and ascended upwards, with his shadow appearing above the screen and ascending towards the sky before disappearing. This was followed by the appearance of an evil Anti-Undertaker and the return of the original to defeat his evil counterpart, who was worshipping money.
*** His most recent feud with born-again Christian Shawn Michaels just couldn't ignore this, especially the RAW before Wrestlemania 25, when Michaels dressed up in Undertaker's clothes (trenchcoat and wide-brimmed hat), but all in white to contrast the Undertaker's black. Then, because something worth doing is apparently also worth overdoing, Michaels enters Wrestlemania 25 descending from the rafters, bathed in light, as a triumphant chorus sings. Undertaker, appropriately, made his entrance by ascending from underneath the stage. Taker managed to keep his streak and break his losing record against HBK ([[LightIsNotGood who was playing the heel]]).
* Accusations of [[DoctorWho the Doctor]] as Messiah abound regarding the new series. Tinkerbell Jesus rankles the most, though.
** In the TV Movie, the regeneration-transfer-machine the Master straps the Doctor into looks an awful lot like a crucifix and crown of thorns.
* ''{{Torchwood}}'' has Jesusfied Jack to the extent that he revives after three days after dying for the Team's sins, and later sacrifices himself ''again'' by being buried alive in the same year that Jesus was supposedly put on the cross. And that's just getting started.
** But then, maybe he's not Jesus, but God. He [[spoiler:sacrifices his only-begotten (grand)son to save the Children of Earth]].
* In a slightly uncharacteristic moment (based on what we know of Daddy Shut Up and what we know of hell), ''{{Supernatural}}'' thought it would be a great idea to have him go out in a beautific white light after having defeated the {{big bad}} and leaving his sons almost in tears.
* As mentioned above, Superman gets saddled with the Jesus archtype from time to time, but it was egregiously done in in the very first episode of ''{{Smallville}}'' when Clark Kent was crucified. It was {{lampshaded}} in the next episode when Lex Luthor points out that it was a method of [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] the Romans reserved for those they hated the most.
* In the new ''{{Battlestar Galactica}}'', there are countless examples. The numbers 5 (Final Five Cylons, 5 priests of the unnamed God, etc.) and 12 (12 Colonies of Kobol, 12 models of human Cylons, 12 Lords of Kobol) keep popping up, the twelve being a reference to twelve signs of the Zodiac which also inspire the names of the colonies. Not to mention Gaius Baltar, who is absolutely convinced he's the [[MessianicArchetype Messiah]]. In "The Hand of God," at the end, he leans backward on a balcony, stares up at the sky, and says "I am an instrument of God." Then, in "Torn," he is imprisoned on a Cylon basestar, grows out his hair and beard, and wanders around in a white robe.
** In the original ''Galactica,'' the 12 colonies (despite their names) were pretty much meant to symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel. It borrowed from Mormon theology, which posits a lost 13th tribe; in the ''Galactica'' mythos they're looking for the lost 13th colony, which of course is Earth.
** And then the symbolism gets cranked up in Season 4. Gaius Baltar, still with beard, becomes the unwitting leader of a religious cult that preaches love and tolerance (although it's really more an UnwantedHarem). In the GrandFinale, Baltar [[spoiler: brokers peace between humans and Cylons and gets to be with Number Six, his angel]]. And to top it off, Baltar is played by a Jewish actor named James Callis.
**Then there's the fact that this book is about the twelve [[strike:tribes]] colonies, originated from [[strike:Eden]] Kobol, but settled in foreign land (hence colonies) was forced to move from their homeland to find [[strike:a promised land]] Earth that only was known from legend, all due to the actions of a certain man that was influenced by [[strike:an Angel]] a woman who worship a single God, who after receiving visions and power from the higher being, eventually become the founder and leader of [[strike:Judaism Christianity]] a monothestic religion and preach about grace, and after wandering around [[strike:the desert]] space for [[strike:forty]] five years (or four seasons), manage to arrive on a lush green [[strike:place]] planet [[spoiler:that is eventually OUR Earth]], all according to the plan of the higher being. Hmm, sounds like a [[TheBible familiar book]]...
* [[{{TheSarahConnorChronicles}} Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles]] has many. While they are not particularly subtle, that's kind of the point. Many of them mark Crowning Moments Of Awesome.
** [[spoiler: Cromartie is killed]] guns akimbo, arms outstretched, in a church, ''right in front of a crucifix'' in an incredibly [[{{CrowningMomentOfAwesome}} awesome scene]].
** John Connor cuts his hair while the song "Samson and Delilah" plays, in the episode entitled '''Samson and Delilah.'''
** In the season one finale, [[spoiler: twenty FBI agents are killed]] along to the song [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Comes_Around_(song) "The Man Comes Around.'']]. [[StockQuotes The song is about Revelations]], ie, the end of the world.
** In the season two opener, [[spoiler: after John risks his life to reactivate Cameron]], she is shown sitting quietly and staring at the cross for a long time before asking Sarah if she believes in the Resurrection. She'd also been seen staring at it earlier in the episode.
* In the Christmas episode of ''TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'', a couple that arrive at the Tipton after a snowstorm couldn't get a room because it was full and the woman gave birth in an elevator in the night during Christmas. The cast lampshades it by realizing that what the couple went through was surprisingly similar to Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus Christ.
* The guy with the cheese slices in the ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Restless." When asked about what he represented, JossWhedon said he was inserted specifically to be a meaningless element of a densely symbolic episode.
** In an [[http://www.geocities.com/voxsententia/abovethelaw/wrestlingbuffy.html#thecheeseman/ article]] about the sybolism in the episode, the author of the piece [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main.EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory interprets]] it anyway, but admits that it might be taking it too far because Joss Whedon said it was meaningless.
* ''{{Firefly}}'': There is something ''way'' too uncanny about a character who gives up his home in glory to save someone with a broken soul, who heals the sick, is shocked about being forsaken by his father, dines with harlots and sinners, and has the same name as the passerby who was pressed into carrying the cross in the Gospels. Not that that was necessarily intentional, the writer was an atheist and of course you find such things where you look. But still, it is spooky. And still spookier if it was unintentional.
* The first CombiningMecha from ''ChourikiSentaiOhranger'' is apparently based on Ezekiel's descriptions of Angels in TheBible. It's formed from a bird, a lion, a bull & two chariots. The Cherubim are said to have the faces of a man, an eagle a bull & a lion (although in Ohranger Robo's case the bird's face is folded inside the body when combined to make way for the robot's head) & Thrones are said to resemble chariot wheels.
*In the miniseries, ''Children of Dune'', a very dramatic scene occurs where Stilgar is leading men down a hallway. He was previously upset that the traditions of the planet had all but been wiped away by the changes that he helped bring about. In this scene, he proclaims his return to his traditional ways by exclaiming, "We will ride worms!" Only a true fan of the show could view this scene without laughing out loud.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Green Day's ''East Jesus Nowhere'' has a particularly incomprehensible example:
-->Raise your hands now to testify\\
Your confession will be crucified\\
You're a sacrificial suicide\\
Like a dog that's been sodomized
* Rammstein's song "Laichzeit" has, as this troper is sure, no meaning at all but sounds very symbolic or at least, depending on how you look at it, like a song about sex using metaphors. It may be that they just wanted to [[TheWalrusWasPaul fuck with the minds of fans or critics who read too much in their songs]].
* [[{{Disturbed}} Disturbed's]] Stupify video involves the psychologically broken character in a long crucified suspension shot, the sceen frquently blinking between this and the lead singer David Draiman in the same pose. According to Draiman, the song was about the racism of his parents in not accepting a non-Jewish girlfriend he had. [[SoYeah Yeah]].
* Most of Nightwish's songs. Of particular interest is "Planet Hell", which conflates Greek mythology ("Save yourself a penny for the ferryman") and Christianity ("This world ain't ready for the Ark") in the chorus.
** Just about all of ''Century Child'' is an allusion to the myth of Selene and Endymion.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* Most of the second half of ''The Fantasticks'' is a parade of symbols. The El Gallo number "Round and Round" is particularly trippy in its symbolism; even the actors in the production this editor attended didn't know what it meant.
** If you think ''The Fantasticks'' is symbol-laden, check out the authors' follow-up, ''Celebration''. The bookwriter and lyricist Tom Jones even admits that the symbols were pretentious and overbearing, culminating in a song about the young hero's final battle with the old villain called "Winter and Summer."
*GilbertAndSullivan were mocking this way back in 1880:
--> [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSENyeBWvdM And ev'ry one will say / As you walk your mystic way / "If this young man expresses himself in terms too deep for me / Why, what a very singularly deep young man / this deep young man must be!"]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* [[HalfLife A murder-happy priest fighting the undead? No SYMBOLISM!!!1!! there, is there?]]
* ''{{Xenogears}}'' and ''{{Xenosaga}}'' are notorious among VideoGames for being chock-full of pretentious religious symbolism. Much like ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'', matters are complicated by the fact that the core story really ''is'' based around religious symbolism--''Xenogears'' in particular is heavily inspired by the Gnostic interpretation of Christianity.
** Some of this was lost in translation. The Elementals were named for four of the nine choirs of angels. Cherubina (Kelvena), Throne (Tolone), Seraphita and Dominia. Mr. Inferiority Complex Ramsus has a phonetic Japanese spelling that makes his surname pronounced like Rameses. And Miang's surname is a shout-out to Eve (Hawwa/Chavah).
* ''{{Bioshock}}'' carries quite a bit of seemingly gratuitous religious symbolism, from crucified corpses, to discarded Bibles lying around, to the name of the game's AppliedPhlebotinum, ADAM (which gives you powers that are fueled by EVE), to the name of the city itself, Rapture. One could argue that Rapture is actually named after "diver's rapture", a state of euphoria brought on by "the bends" -- still symbolic, but not in the same way.
** While the rest are valid, the first two are more literal -- the character inspired by the heroes of Ayn Rand, Andrew Ryan (easy to anagram, isn't it?) outlawed religion and hunted down smugglers who brought Bibles into Rapture.
* ''MegaManX 8'' contains plenty of examples of this. The first stage is called "Noah's Park", a space elevator is named "The Jakob Project" for apparently no reason, and the final boss appears as a fallen angel whose ultimate attack is called "Paradise Lost".
** The last example is actually also a TitleDrop, since [[spoiler:"Paradise Lost" is the subtitle of the game]].
* Likewise ''MegaManZero''. ''Where to begin?'' TheObiWan X is now [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence something close to a ghost]] wearing a cassock and a halo on his head. His EvilKnockOff Copy-X, has [[RedEyesTakeWarning blood-red eyes]] and an angel motif in his PoweredArmor and OneWingedAngel. The latter form even has the eyes spamming a laser to ''burn the floor''.
** More notable examples in ''MegaManZero'':
*** Omega's "[[AGodAmI I am the messiah!]]" phrase; add the fact that he is called the God of Destruction by many. His name is also worth mentioning, as one of its basic meanings is "the end", and he's literally instrumental in the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.
*** His creator, Dr. Weil, has almost the same phrase: "[[CompleteMonster I am the devil!]]" Justified, this is ''exactly'' what he is.
* In ''{{Drakengard}}'', you have the Cult of the Watchers, which is a vague allusion to a concept in Judeo-Christian theology and some books of the Apocrypha. The book of Enoch, specifically. Monstrous children of the grigori, the Nephilim = those crazyass giant demon babies? Well, maybe?
* In ''AssassinsCreed'', mild-mannered bartender Desmond Miles is suspiciously modeled with the exact same face as Altair, his ancestor from ''1191AD.'' It also goes in reverse, as Desmond's white hoodie is obviously patterned to resemble Altair's assassin's robe. It's a rather sly application of the [[spoiler:IdenticalGrandson,]] because Altair wears his hood up and his face is harder to see. This goes in reverse as well, because Desmond doesn't wear his hood. Arguably subverted with the [[AppliedPhlebotinum Animus,]] as it could be simply replacing Altair with Desmond's looks, since Desmond is reliving the memories. This would mean Altair didn't have the cool scar that causes much {{squee}}, sadly.
* ''FireEmblem'' games generally name characters and weapons after people and weapons in mythologies from EVERYWHERE in Europe. The names don't go any deeper than being names. ''FireEmblem: The Sacred Stones'' has a character named Tethys (a Greek Goddess), the sacred spear Siegmund (named after a Norse Hero) and the sacred sword Sieglinde (named after Siegmund [[BrotherSisterIncest sister/lover]] Ironically, they're wielded by Lords who are twin brother and sister *and* have quite the twincest-y vibes). They just sound cooler than boring names, nothing more.
**Also in ''Sacred Stones'', there is a bow named "Nidhogg" which the game refers to as the "Serpent Bow". In Norse myth, Nidhogg is the name of the serpent that gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasill.
**In ''Sword of Flames/Blazing Blade'', Eliwood receives a sword named Durandal, said to have been wielded by the hero Roland. Both of these names are taken directly from a French legend.
** Not to mention [[strike:Mars]] Marth. [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Uh, nevermind, I guess]].
* ''{{Persona 3}}'' involves shooting yourself in the head to let the voices out. Of course, the shooting device is apparently not a real gun, and just induces the mental trauma of being shot, causing your innermost psyche to emerge and attack the enemy with magic.
** Not to mention the two crucifixion poses the main character is in [[spoiler:(once before Ikutski tries to sacrifice the protagonists, and again after he makes the [[HeroicSacrifice Great Seal]])]], and the fact that the last "voice in his head" is named [[MessianicArchetype Messiah]].
** Also, he [[spoiler:sacrifices his own life]] in order to save humanity from the consequences of its vices.
***Or maybe, [[spoiler:he dooms all of humanity]] when you consider that [[spoiler:Nyx and Erebus in greek mythology give birth to Aether, the light. Then again, LightIsNotGood ]]
* DigitalDevilSaga is a rare example of a game that uses random Hindu symbolism and mythology. From your ultimate goal being Nirvana, after you pass through Muladhara, Svadisthana, Manipura, Anahata, a few side dungeons, Ajna, and Sahasrara, to fighting Ravana, the Junkyard is practically made of random Hindu symbolism. And this being a ShinMegamiTensei game, of course you kill God, who happens to be Brahman in this reincarnation.
* "Jesus Beams" Joshua from ''TheWorldEndsWithYou''. [[spoiler:[[AGodAmI A God Is He]].]]
* The first half of ''FinalFantasyX'' draws so many parallels between Yuna and Jesus that it's ''almost'' not a surprise when it's revealed that [[spoiler: Yuna will die saving Spira if she completes her pilgrimage as intended]]. The second half of the game then completely subverts this as [[spoiler: it's revealed that this way of dealing with Sin, at best, puts a temporary patch on the problem anyway]] and looks for another way to defeat it.
* Two of the first towns your party visits in ''FinalFantasyIII'' are Canaan and [[UrExample Ur]].
* [[{{Halo}} Master Chief]]'s name is John 117. John 1:17 is "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.". We have no idea what that ''means'', or whether Master Chief is supposed to be Moses or Jesus, but he wouldn't be named John if it wasn't important, right? The allusion could also be to John 11:7 which is "Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again." but it probably isn't. Others have pointed at Revelation 1:17 (and 18), which include "I am the First (in the novels, first to put on the MJOLNIR armour; also, "first" as leader of the [=SPARTAN-II=]s) and the Last (ignoring the novels, the last SPARTAN). I am the Living One; I was dead (in cryogenic stasis), and behold I am alive (restored from cryogenic stasis) for ever and ever (you never truly fail if you have saves, since you can always reload)! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (OneManArmy slaughterer of the Covenant)."
** The Flood and the Ark.
** ''{{Halo}}''. Things that float over angel's heads. Seem familiar?
** 117 is also 819 divided by 7 (seven itself is a major theme in Bungie games). "Hats Off to Eight Nineteen" was the hidden easter egg level in Marathon Infinity. Ironically, "Eight Nineteen" refers to the operator of the "Marathon Story Page", Hamish Sinclair (or H.S., or 8 19 if you translated the letters into numbers). A [[http://marathon.bungie.org/story/hatoff819.html chat log]] proves the 8 19=H S point...
** As ''Halo's'' [[WMG/{{Halo}} Wild Mass Guessing]] page points out...
---> "I establish my '''covenant''' with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; '''never again''' will there be a '''flood''' to '''destroy the earth.'''" -- ''Genesis 9:11''
** Halopedia has an entire page on Religious References In The Halo Series.
* ''{{Ikaruga}}'' contains many Buddhist symbolic elements, especially with the games theme of polarity (''Ying and Yang''). Not to mention the chapter titles which bookmark each stage reference man's struggle towards enlightenment.
* ''SilentHill: Homecoming'' has a lot of sexually-related imagery. None of it seems to mean a damn thing, as sexual themes aren't part of the plot nor do they relate to any of the characters. This is a particularly grating example, because, as [[ZeroPunctuation others have speculated,]] the most likely cause is the American development team simply failing to grasp the style of symbolism the Japanese devs employed through the rest of the series, ''especially'' with monster design. To be fair, most ''players'' miss a lot of it, too, but this troper thought TheReveal to be somewhat of a let-down after suspecting since nearly the beginning that Alex was either [[StraightGay gay]] or [[{{Bifauxnen}} transgendered.]]
** The entire series is also filled with occult references that include Metatron, Samael, the Olympic spirits and tarot cards, and eventually grows to include an entirely fictional mythology and pantheon featuring such names as Xuchilbara the "Red God" and Lobsel Vith the "Yellow God". Whether any of these references are truly relevant to the story, or if they're just there to emphasize the fact that we're dealing with crazy cultist villains, is still a matter of debate among fans.
*** The developers admitted they drew most of the first game's symbols from a Judeo-Christian-Whatever grabbag. This is most evident in the first game, especially when placed in contrast to later games that reduce the clutter with a greater focus on the town's own home grown nameless horror. Additionally, the third game is there to specifically address many of these inconsistencies, and even has a few instances of previous fan theories being Jossed.
* ''MetalGearSolid'' was doing fine until the fourth one. Then it gives the most {{Anvilicious}} sequence involving a church and a big statue of Mary and two factions fighting over different interpretations of a self-sacrificing person's words. Considering the games had multiple Snakes, an EVA, an ADAM, a David, a John, and a driving theme of heroism and idolisation, it was impressive the games managed to resist that long.
** More meaninglessly, ''MetalGearAcid 2'' names the Test Subjects (Golab, Harab Serap, Chagadiel) after the Kabbalist Qliphoth for no good reason, and names the Metal Gear Chaioth Ha Kadosh (host of angels) and gives it a choral piece as a {{Leitmotif}}.
** The opening scene of ''MetalGearSolid 2'' shows Snake (who had at this point abandoned his dream of having a normal life in order to fight against [[HumongousMecha Metal Gear]] proliferation, as his 'duty to the coming generations') throwing himself off a bridge with his legs together and his arms outstretched in a wide crucifix pose. He's in [[InvisibilityCloak Active Camo]] at this point, so the effect is made even more extreme by the fact that all that's visible is the outline of his long-haired, nearly-naked silhouette. Oh, and an ethereal choral song plays as he does it. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen For a while during development]], it would have been more extreme, with Snake wearing a brilliant white parachute that would spread out behind his body like a pair of angel wings. A lot of the symbolism is mollified, though, by the fact that when he lands on the surface of the Tanker there's a big HomageShot to, of all things, ''{{Terminator}}''.
*** Which also abounds with this (see above).
* Not about Christ, but a lot of people claim [[{{Portal}} GlaDoS]] looks like [[http://kotaku.com/376958/portals-glados-as-bondage-slave a woman dangling from the ceiling, restrained in a straitjacket]], an obvious metaphor for an insane prisoner.
* The final series of bosses in FinalFantasyVI screams this. The first three bosses are grotesque figures shaped out of human bodies with seemingly no relevance whatsoever to the storyline. Then, for the four and absolutely final boss in the game, the characters rise out from a dark and dreary background to shining light and clouds to fight an angelic and God-like being. The most plausible explanations are that this is based on ''Dante's Inferno'' with the first three bosses representing the different circles of Hell and the three major categories of sin or, respectively, the bosses themselves are Hell, Purgatory, Heaven, and then God.
* It's pretty fair to say that so many fights wouldn't have been had about ''FinalFantasyVII'' if the villain hadn't been named after the Kabbalist 'Sephiroth' and he hadn't been obsessed with becoming a god and there wasn't a sacrificed martyr character.
** Add onto that a possible corrected translation of his final form, Sepher Sephiroth, and watch more heads explode.
** In ''FinalFantasyVII: CrisisCore'', the character Genesis comes from a town famous for its apple harvest, and is producing clones of himself in an abandoned apple factory. When attempting to incite Sephiroth into rebellion against the Shinra, he offers him an apple. The rest of the final dungeon had a large amount of WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic, too, what with Dante's Inferno references and a statue that looked like the Virgin Mary (at least in Japan).
***Speaking of apples, one can certainly slap some WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic onto [[spoiler:the burning apple when Tseng blows up Banora]] really, what could it mean? Especially its connection to not only Genesis but also [[spoiler:Angeal]]...speaking of names and symbolism...
* Yet more examples from ''FinalFantasy: The Summons''. Yeah, Odin, Lakshmi, Quetzalcoatl and the like make sense in the context of being gods, but [[FinalFantasyVIII Eden]]? [[FinalFantasyIX Ark]]?
* The Tattered Spire in ''{{Fable}} 2'' is, at its full height, a model of Hell from Dante's ''[[DivineComedy Inferno]]''.
* Inverted entirely in ''MaxPayne'', when most people missed the oodles of valid and proper Norse symbolism.
** And then dropped straight in the most {{Anvilicious}} way possible with the sequel, which is a retelling of ''Paradise Lost'' and ''Genesis''.
* ''{{Metroid}} Prime 3: Corruption'' has Samus' infusion of Phazon as a major plot point. Phazon gives Samus increased firepower and abilities, but can only be used for a short time. If Samus stays in Phazon-induced Hypermode for too long, she becomes "corrupted" and dies. Over time, Samus' corruption becomes worse and worse, disfiguring her skin and clogging her veins. At the height of her corruption, Samus ''has only ten minutes before she dies of excessive corruption.'' By the end of the game, [[spoiler: Samus manages to purge herself of all Phazon and Phazon-related upgrades, saving her life.]] I refuse to believe that Nintendo didn't intend this as ''some'' kind of drug metaphor. There's just no way.
** In a more conventional religious example, the Phazon could represent sin, and the purge baptism for the remission of sins.
** On the flip side of religious examples, just try to tell me the corrupted Space Pirates aren't the ''Metroid'' equivalent of a fanatical cult.
*** This is made very close to explicit in a few of the Pirate [[EnemyScan lore scans]]. They describe themselves as "disciples" of the Dark Hunter, and mention casually executing a senior Pirate who questioned an order.
* In the ''SakuraTaisen'' manga (and possibly by extent the game, but correct me if I'm wrong), the character Setsuna has a scene during his MindRape arc torturing Maria with her tied to a cross.
* ''SilhouetteMirage'' contains notable examples, such as references like ''Megido'', ''Zohar'', and ''Metatron''.
* Let's not forget ''EVEOnline'', wherein humanity discovers a wormhole (the titular ''EVE'') which ''delivers'' mankind to the ''New Eden'' system in another galaxy. It only gets better from this point onward, especially if you take the time to read the names of some of the systems and constellations.
* A little-known game called ''Adventures of Darwin'' features a tribe of monkeys that have to [[YouFailBiologyForever evolve into humans]] in time to survive the coming apocalypse. They are led by a monkey named Darwin, a [[ShoutOut shout out]] that would make the actual Charles Darwin spin in his grave. Where does the symbology come in? The final boss is [[spoiler: {{God}} [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Himself]]]]. Well, okay, according to the bestiary, [[spoiler: He is actually [[ClassicalMythology Zeus]], but given the context, he's clearly meant to be a monotheistic God, [[DidNotDoTheResearch not one of a pantheon]]]].
* In ''TheKingOfFighters'', SNKBoss Goenitz is a priest, and in his waiting for turn animation, he is seen reading a book (presumibly a Bible). He serves and awaits the return of a powerful, supernatural entity who would bring TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, who ended reincarnating in a the body of a boy named Chris; and to top it, he would throw phrases like "pray to your god" before fighting. In addittion, the SpinOff dating simulation games ''Days of Memories'' has him, Chris and Shermie wearing [[CreepyCoolCrosses crucifixes]]. Also, Kyo wears a black shirt with a cross in the NESTS saga.
* In the ''[[CapcomVsWhatever SNK vs Capcom Chaos]]'' game, you fight BonusBoss Athena in a FluffyCloudHeaven and, after defeating her, an unnamed character who is a clear CaptainErsatz of {{God}} appears to sends you back to Earth. [[spoiler: Akuma returns to challenge him, though.]]
* In ''StreetFighter IV'', [[spoiler: it's implied that either Abel was cloned from Seth, or that Seth was cloned from Abel. In the Old Testament, Abel and Seth were sons of Adam and Eve, which leaves one question: Where's Cain?]]
** ''StreetFighter III: 3rd Strike'' has Gill, who in the previous [=SF3=] was little more than a BigBad with a weird color scheme. In the Dreamcast ''Giant Attack'' game where he was playable, his ending gave a cryptic Bible-sounding verse predicting a future calamity, and in ''3rd Strike'' he becomes a self-proclaimed savior who, in his ending in his Dreamcast ending, splits an ocean that leads to a paradise. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome We are all very impressed.]]
* In ''TheLegendOfZelda: The Wind Waker'', Link's sister Aryll is kidnapped by the Helmaroc King because [[spoiler:[[HijackedByGanon Ganondorf]]]] ordered that all girls with pointy ears be brought to him, as one of them was the promised [[spoiler:Princess Zelda]]. Meanwhile, in TheBible, King Herod ordered that all babies under three years be killed, as one of them was the promised Messiah.
* The game ''{{Baroque}}'' is ''littered'' with crosses and minor religious messages. If you explore the Outer World, you can find a graveyard of metal framework crosses in the background.
* ''{{La-Mulana}}'' sure has a lot of maternal symbolism. One quest requires you to take a statue of a woman to an area where you can see sperm swimming around in the background, and then stand under a diagram of the uterus. SoYeah.
* The backstory concerning the destruction of the Echidna clan in ''{{Sonic Adventure}}'' somewhat mirrors the story of Noah and the Flood.
** Then there's the Heaven/Hell imagery in ''Sonic Riders'' and in the Chao Gardens of ''Sonic Adventure 2''.
* In ''Tales of MonkeyIsland: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood'', Morgan Le Flay [[spoiler:betrays Guybrush and brings him to the MadDoctor [=DeSinge=] in Floatsam Island]]. When she arrives the doctor pays her with 30 Thousand pieces of eight in silver.
* What began harmlessly in the original ''DevilMayCry'' was cranked {{up to eleven}} by the time the fourth installment rolled in:
** In the first game, [[BadassLongcoat Dante]], [[MsFanservice Trish]], and [[AloofOlderBrother Vergil]] were all named after characters from the ''DivineComedy'': Dante is Dante, Vergil is Virgil, and Trish is Lady Beatrice. Nelo Angelo, [[spoiler: [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready Vergil’s corrupted form]]]], is a misspelling of Ne''r''o Angelo (Italian for “Black Angel”). The [[ShockAndAwe Alastor sword]] is named after a demon in Christian mythology. The [[KillItWithFire Ifrit gauntlets]] are described as being powered by {{hellfire}}. BigBad Mundus frequently goes by the monikers of “Prince of this World” and “Prince of Darkness”. Who else is known as that? ''{{Satan}}''. Mundus’s three eyes could be another ''Divine Comedy'' reference, as Satan was portrayed there as having three faces. Mundus’s youthful and nigh-angelic appearance (before he enters HighOctaneNightmareFuel territory) could be symbolic of Lucifer’s supposed beauty before his [[FallenAngel fall from paradise]]. A [[BossInMookClothing common enemy variant]] goes by the name of Sin. BigCreepyCrawlies exist in the form of large flies called Beelzebub (lit. “Lord of the Flies”; a name that is commonly synonymous with Satan). This is also the first game to feature [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Divinity Statues]], statues of an [[PowersThatBe omniscient god of time and space]] that you offer demon blood to in order to buy items, upgrades, and techniques.
** [[SupportingProtagonist Lucia]]’s namesake is a martyred saint from the ''Divine Comedy'' who helps Dante. The BigBad of ''Devil May Cry 2'', CorruptCorporateExecutive [[AGodAmI Arius]], shares his name with a 3rd-century Christian priest who was deemed as a heretic due to his assertion that Jesus was neither eternal nor did he exist before he was begotten by the father. [[CreepyChild Demonochorus]] appear to be demonic versions of Putti (chubby, angelic babies that usually appear in Renaissance-era art). The [[EvilSorcerer Mancer Demons]] are the souls of the dead who have been condemned as heretics. [[SummonMagic Furiataurus]] has the classical look of a demon: hoofed feet, a bull's head and horns, and a man's torso. It also happens to be surrounded by hellfire. [[SequentialBoss Nefasturris]] is a [[DemonicPossession building animated by evil]] that is eventually [[NightmareFuel reduced to a head]] named Nefascapitas. Both bosses are made up of thousands of {{goddamned bats}} called Nefasvermis. Translated from Latin, their names mean “Tower of Sin”, “Head of Sin”, and “Worm of Sin”, respectively. FinalBoss Argosax the Chaos has a name similar in sound to Abraxas, a Gnostic deity. His (or [[AmbiguousGender her]]) {{One Winged Angel}}/{{Bishonen Line}}, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Despair Embodied]], appears as horned, angelic being made of fire.
** ''Devil May Cry 3'' gives us [[ActionGirl Lady]]. Her real name, [[spoiler:Mary]], is shared with [[spoiler: the Virgin Mary]], another character who appears in the ''Divine Comedy''. [[spoiler:Thus, her nickname is likely a reference to one of the Virgin's other names, Madonna (Italian for "Lady").]] The Gallery of {{Mooks}} includes the Seven Hells the Demon Army (named after the SevenDeadlySins) and [[FallenAngel The Fallen]] ([[ViewerGenderConfusion female demons]] with a vaguely angelic appearance). The {{manga}} also speaks of another group called the Seven Sins. [[AngryGuardDog Cerberus]] was the guardian of the third circle of Hell in the ''Divine Comedy''. Similiarly, Geryon is the name of a bear-armed dragon with a man's face and a scorpion's tail from the ''Divine Comedy''. [[SpaceWhale Leviathan]]’s body is said to be the gateway to the Hell of Envy. It is also a sea monster mentioned in the Old Testament as a gigantic fish that cannot be killed by man, but will be slain by {{God}} at the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt end of times]].
** [[CorruptChurch The Order of the Sword]] in ''Devil May Cry 4'' resembles the [[ChristianityIsCatholic Roman Catholic Church]] and their members rever [[HunterOfHisOwnKind Sparda]] as {{God}} and even have erected a statue in his honor. It is called [[CrystalDragonJesus The Savior]]. [[spoiler:The Savior holds enough power to wipe out vast scores of demons easily, almost as if it were smiting them like a god. A majority of the areas inside of The Savior are appropriately named “Heaven”, despite the demonic influence.]] Their leader resembles the Pope. [[BadassAbnormal Nero]] is named after [[EvilOverlord a tyrannical Roman emperor who harshly persecuted Christians]]. Nero also shares motifs with [[spoiler:Vergil]]/Nelo Angelo, which is fitting because Nero was revealed to be [[spoiler:Vergil’s son]]. [[DistressedDamsel Kyrie]], [[VaporWear Gloria]]/[[spoiler:Trish]], [[HeroAntagonist Credo]], [[LightIsNotGood Sanctus]], and [[MadScientist Agnus]] are (respectively) the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth parts of the Catholic Ordinary of the Mass, [[OminousLatinChanting a song traditionally sung in Latin]] (well, minus the first part). Credo and Agnus have OneWingedAngel forms that begin with Angelo; both are angelic in nature and Credo’s appears to be a ''literal'' OneWingedAngel. Beings similar to them called Alto and Bianco Angelos ("High Angel" and "White Angel" in Italian) appear as lesser enemies. [[spoiler:Sanctus’s OneWingedAngel is Sanctus Diabolica (Diabolica refers to the Devil). After defeating Sanctus Diabolica, The Savior takes on Sanctus’s facial features and becomes the False Savior. This could be a reference to the AntiChrist and other prophetic deceivers that are mentioned frequently in the New Testament.]] Dante gets a CrucifiedHeroShot when Nero throws him into a statue of Sparda with his [[EvilHand Devil Bringer]] and then impales him with his own sword. {{Hellgate}}s allow for travel between the Human and Demon Worlds. Dante obtains two weapons called Lucifer and Pandora, the latter of which [[InformedAbility is said to have]] [[NumberOfTheBeast 666 different forms]]. Berial (or Be''l''ial) is name sometimes used to refer to Satan. It also refers to one of the Four Crown Princes of Hell. Berial’s title in the game? ''Conqueror of the Fire Hell''. Bael refers to a myriad of entities the Hebrews called demons. The name also is used as a part of Beelzebub. Finally, there's Mephisto. Mephistopheles is a stockcharacter used in place of the Devil with whom the main character of ''{{Faust}}'' made a {{deal with the Devil}}. [[{{Understatement}} Staggering, isn’t it?]]
*In Hearthome City in [=~Pokémon~=] Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, there's a random church which serves no purpose in the story.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Summed up brilliantly by [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20050602a.gif this image]] (Aptly titled ''"It makes you sound deep"''), brought to you by ''RPGWorld''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Cody Jenson's discovery of a motorcycle in ''SurvivalOfTheFittest'', a mundane occurrence tooled up with as much symbolism and imagery as was humanly possible. Oh, and he [[ICallItVera named it]] too.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Season four of ''TeenTitans'' was full of religious references. Raven's visions of the arrival of [[{{Satan}} Trigon]] and [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]], plus a sanctuary where Raven and Robin seek shelter from Slade (which reappears as the location of a powerless, purified Raven in the three-part season finale [[AfterTheEnd after Trigon has taken over the world]]).
** Then there's a possible, more subtle example when Raven is counting down the hours until her [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday birthday]] is over, though it's possibly merely coincidence.
---> '''Raven:''' '''Six''' PM. Just '''six''' more hours and it'll be over. '''Six''' more.
* Parodied in {{Futurama}}, when Bender (who got himself there in the first place and was being rescued by Fry and Leela) [[TheMessiah saves Fry and Leela from]] [[SpaceJesus Robot Hell]] by taking another robot's pair of wings and [[OurAngelsAreDifferent attaching them to his back]], [[CrucifiedHeroShot holding his arms out to each side]], and getting some sort of laser ring caught on his antenna like a halo.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Any RockBand player who frequently buys DLC should be familiar with a [=YouTuber=] by the name of Npeaen, now [[http://www.youtube.com/user/Nalopean Nalopean]]. While not a religious symbol, this troper believes that his previously happy-go-lucky [[TeamFortress2 Medic]] avatar now has a bullet through his brain in order to symbolize the old account getting removed by the delete-happy copyright guys.
** Alternatively, you could go the EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory route and turn it ''into'' a religious symbol by saying that the Npeaen/Nalopean situation is supposed to be the story of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, if you ''really'' wanted to...
* Seventh Sanctum has [[http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=symbolitron the Symbolitron]], whose purpose is to generate random symbolism to use in your own writings.
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